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The Perfect Nanny

by Leila Slimani

Care, dependence, and power at home

Critically Recognized
Regular price $17.51 USD
Regular price $29.19 USD Sale price $17.51 USD
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Paperback New English

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Awards & Recognition

  • Editorial selection

    One of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2018

    Selected as one of the 10 Best Books of 2018.

  • Critical praise

    Praised by Roxane Gay as “incredibly engaging and disturbing”

    Gay praised the novel as engaging and disturbing.

AlbakiReads Editorial

Care, dependence, and power at home

When Myriam returns to work as a lawyer, the family hires Louise to care for their two children in their Paris apartment. The arrangement gradually becomes central to the household, as the parents and nanny grow increasingly reliant on one another. Jealousy, resentment, and suspicion disrupt the family’s initial sense of domestic order. The novel uses this close-knit household to examine the intersecting pressures of class, race, motherhood, and domestic labor, with the nanny’s role at the heart of its psychological suspense.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • For readers interested in psychological suspense rooted in family and household dynamics.
  • For readers drawn to fiction exploring class, race, motherhood, and domestic labor.

Themes

Care and dependenceClass and raceMotherhood and domestic laborJealousy and suspicion

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

One of The New York Times's 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century

One of The New York Times's 10 Best Books of 2018

*Soon to be an HBO series starring Nicole Kidman and Maya Erskine*

She has the keys to their apartment. She knows everything. She has embedded herself so deeply in their lives that it now seems impossible to remove her.

"A great novel . . . Incredibly engaging and disturbing . . . Slimani has us in her thrall." --Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger

"One of the most important books of the year. You can't unread it." --Barrie Hardymon, NPR's Weekend Edition


When Myriam decides to return to work as a lawyer after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their son and daughter. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family's chic Paris apartment, stays late without complaint, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on one another, jealousy, resentment, and suspicions mount, shattering the idyllic tableau. Building tension with every page, The Perfect Nanny is a compulsive, riveting, bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity, motherhood, and madness--and the American debut of an immensely talented writer.
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Customer reviews

M
AlbakiReads
Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

T
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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

O
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Olivia

Smooth.